• Gold languishes near a multi-week low touched on Friday amid reduced Fed rate cut bets.
• The stronger US NFP report suggests that the Fed might delay starting its rate-cutting cycle. 
• The focus shifts to the US consumer inflation figures and the FOMC decision on Wednesday.

Gold price (XAU/USD) kicks off the new week on a subdued note and consolidates near its lowest level in over a month, below the $2,300 mark touched in the aftermath of blowout US monthly jobs data. The popularly known Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report showed that the world's largest economy created a lot more jobs than expected in May, forcing investors to scale back their bets for a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed). This keeps the US Treasury bond yields elevated and lifts the US Dollar (USD) to a nearly one-month high, which, in turn, is seen acting as a headwind for the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Adding to this, reports that the People's Bank of China (PBoC) paused gold purchases to its reserves in May, ending a massive buying spree that ran for 18 months, further seem to undermine the Gold price. That said, a cautious market mood lends some support to the safe-haven XAU/USD and helps limit deeper losses. Traders also seem reluctant to place aggressive directional bets ahead of this week's key US data and central bank event risk – the release of the latest US consumer inflation figures and the outcome of the two-day FOMC policy meeting on Wednesday. This, in turn, warrants caution before positioning for further losses.